The city of bridges and an old capital of Colchis kingdom
Formerly it was the ancient capital of Colchis and Imeretia kingdoms. Today it is the second largest and significant city in Georgia. Kutaisi is located in the Rioni river valley on Colchis lowland. The river Rioni is mentioned in the myths of the Golden Fleece for a reason: local residents used to extract gold there. They put their sheep skins across the flow and waited for a few hours and then combed out gold dust from them. The symbol of a sheep skin covered with gold was later named the Golden Fleece.
Kutaisi ‘’Bagrat Temple’’
This majestic cathedral is towering over Kutaisi and visible from any point of the city.
Bagrat Temple, the greatest culture and architecture monument of Georgia, was constructed in the 10th 11th centuries in the days of Bagrat III, a Georgian ruler (975-1014), the progenitor of the Bagrationi princes. Only the temple ruins have been saved on Ukemerioni hill near Kutaisi. The temple consecrated in the honor of the Assumption of the Virgin, was in fact a palace-temple complex, the cultural and religious centre of its time in which all considerable events were marked, all intellectual life of the state was concentrated. The cathedral had not only spiritual mission but also was a symbol of the united Georgian people
Kutaisi ‘’Motsameta’’
Motsameta
It is a small and very beautiful monastery with round turrets crowned with peaked tent-shaped domes. The monastery is standing above the rough Rioni river and is buried in coastal vegetation. According to the legend the monastery was constructed on the place where Muslim aggressors executed David and Konstantin Mkheidze, Georgian princes, who refused to accept Islam. In a small monastery hall on an eminence there is a big rectangular ark with the hallows of the pious princes canonized by Georgian Church . Motsameta attracts crowds of tourists with an ancient superstition: if one crawls three times under the ark and makes a wish while touching the hallows, the princes David and Konstantin will grant it. The Tsar Bagrat III reconstructed the church in the 10 th century. The building was reconstructed again in the 19 th century.
Kutaisi “Sataplia”
Sataplia is a small cave located in Kutaisi, Georgia. It is famous for fine speleothems and the dinosaur footprints . The enters through-cave on one hillside, crosses the hill underground and then goes back on the surface past the dinosaur footprints.
